From the First Time
by Mrs Tompkinson
Summary: My version of Danny and Alice's first meeting and how she came to stay at Leopard's Den. Enjoy! Please, please review!


**Chapter 1**

The Blessbok lay dying in front of the jeep. As soon as Danny saw the tell-tale foam around its mouth, he realised that there could be a rabies outbreak in the area. Unlike in Britain, rabies was still prevalent in South Africa and the last occurrence, in 1995, had killed over 26,000 animals. After putting the animal humanely to sleep, Danny collected all the tissue and blood samples that would be required by the State veterinary authorities to verify the epidemic.

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Confirmation of the rabies outbreak occurred two weeks later. Danny was put in charge of overseeing the quarantine schedule of culling affected herds, vaccinating and baiting unaffected wild and domesticated animals, as well as trying to isolate the source of the disease. It was not a job he could do single-handedly - there was an area of 25 miles radius to cover. He was allocated a team of experienced trackers and hunters. He was also expecting another vet to aid him with the vaccination programme. Danny was worried. He'd got used to working on his own in the past three or so and he didn't want a young 'big-shot' treading on his toes.

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The beige coloured Land Rover drew up alongside the makeshift quarantine headquarters. A young girl of about nine or ten years old jumped out of the passenger seat.

"Hi, I'm Charlotte."

"Hi, I hope you're not the new vet?" Danny joked.

"No, that would be me," a voice interrupted, "Alice Collins. Please to meet you! I'm so sorry we're late. We've had to drive over a hundred miles to get here."

Danny looked at the young woman stood before him. He found it hard not to stare at her, as she was incredibly attractive. She was in her early thirties, about 5ft 4in tall, with long, dark brown hair worn in a plait on her left shoulder and the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. In spite of her practical clothing: checked shirt, jeans (that hugged ever inch of her perfect figure) and boots, she looked amazing. Old feelings began to stir in him, feelings Danny hadn't felt for a very long time.

"Danny Trevanion," he continued, a little embarrassed by the delay in his reply, "Is Charlotte your daughter?"

"Yes, we go everywhere together."

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Alice regarded the man suspiciously. She trusted very few people. All her life she had been let down by those she had gotten close to. In addition, as a female vet in a very male-dominated profession, she'd grown used to always having to prove that she was equal, if not better, than her male colleagues. She observed Danny closely, trying to read his body language. He was 6ft 2in, with a strong, naturally muscular physique. He wasn't conventionally handsome, but there was something attractive about his greying hair and penetrating green eyes, but it was the way he had interacted with Charlotte that had caught her attention the most. He was a natural. He must have children of his own.

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Danny was concerned for the little girl. The South African Veldt was not the place for a child, especially one who had lived most of her life in the city. It was full of dangerous animals and both he and Alice would be fully occupied by the task in hand. He was also worried about a child so young witnessing the mass culling of animals and the impact all that death would have on her. Alice seemed so sure she would be okay. It wasn't his place to tell her how to parent her own child.

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Charlotte got back in the Land Rover. Her mum handed her a colouring book and crayons to keep her occupied whilst she was working.

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"You're Scottish," he stated in his distinctive north-country accent as they walked towards the group of Blessbok.

Alice nodded. He was just trying to be polite. She could sense Danny wasn't too enamoured with her presence and was only putting up with her because he had no choice. He was an old school vet, used to working on his own.

They came to blows just over an hour later. Alice couldn't understand why they were shooting the whole herd of Blessbok. The majority of them appeared to be unaffected. Why couldn't they be vaccinated? Danny was adamant the whole herd must be culled as it was more than likely that even those not showing signs of rabies would already be infected. Alice refused to kill any apparently healthy animals and handed her gun back. She then accused Danny of unnecessary slaughter to protect his own game reserve, and more probably, his finances. How wrong she was. If she'd known him better, she'd have known Danny would do anything to save an animal's life. He was finding it very, very hard to destroy all these animals but he knew it was for the greater good.

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There was no water left in the Land Rover. It was a very hot day and as she was thirsty, Charlotte climbed out of the vehicle to see if there were any bottles in the cooler. She noticed a very docile cheetah lying only a few feet away. She'd never seen one before in real life - it looked so cute and cuddly, so she approached it, half expecting it to run away, but it didn't. She sat down and began stroking its soft fur.

Alice approached the temporary base. She was still fuming from the contretemps she'd had with Danny. How dare he treat her that way? She was just as qualified as he was. Why was he right and she wrong? Suddenly, she came to an abrupt halt. Charlotte wasn't in the vehicle. She scanned around her, her heart beating rapidly at her precious daughter's unexplained absence. Where had she gone? The Bush was a dangerous place for a child.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alice spotted her daughter. She was snuggled up to an unusually passive cheetah. The characteristic froth around its mouth indicated just one thing – it was rabid. Alice was terrified. She had to get Charlotte away from the animal. If it bit Charlotte, she would be infected. If the animal became spooked, it could savage her.

"Charlotte, walk towards me," Alice commanded, desperately trying to maintain a sense of calm in her voice.

The little girl moved away but became panicked as the cheetah began to move towards her. She started to run, in fear, which encouraged the big cat to chase after her.

Alice was paralysed with fear. There was nothing she could do to save Charlotte…….

A single gunshot rang out. The cheetah lay dead. Alice turned, shaking, to see Danny putting down his rifle. This man, with whom she had been fighting just minutes earlier, had saved the life of her beloved daughter, Charlotte. She would be forever in his debt.

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Danny was absolutely shattered. The day's events had taken its toll on him. All he wanted to do was fall into his bed. He knew that he would have to continue at the same pace tomorrow and needed to get some sleep. He tried to rest but he couldn't stop thinking about Alice. He couldn't put his finger on it but he'd felt an instant connection with her, but she'd proved to be incapable of dealing appropriately with the current situation. He needed someone with game experience not a 'bunny-hugging' city vet to ensure this quarantine operation was successful. There was no choice - she'd have to do the paperwork.

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The new day's schedule was well under way when Alice arrived. She was devastated to find out that Danny had relegated her to administration work. It was as if Danny had lost all respect for her. She'd really wanted to prove herself to him today, especially after he'd saved Charlotte's life. She wanted to repay him some way.

"I think I may have found the source of the outbreak," Alice reported to Danny, when he arrived back from the morning's work.

She unfolded the map and showed him how she had plotted the positions of all the infected animals found so far. Danny had been a bit irritated at first - Alice had gone against his instructions. She was supposed to be collecting samples and writing a report, but it was clear as day on the map, the rabies infected animals were all centred around or adjacent to the same watering hole. She'd used her initiative and it was highly likely that in doing so, thousands of animals' lives would be saved. Danny began to wonder if he'd badly misjudged Alice.

Alice could tell from Danny's expression that she had done the right thing. They both drove down to the waterhole. There they found the corpse of a yellow mongoose, a well-known carrier of rabies in South Africa, by its nest. It was critical that they now treated all the wild and domesticated animals in the immediate area. If they did so, rabies wouldn't spread any further.

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Danny and all of his family had gone to Fatani's Bar. They'd planned a surprise party for Danny's stepson, Evan, who had returned permanently to the family home, Leopard's Den, after staying with his real father in England.

Alice had seen a totally different side of Danny when he was with his family and friends. He may have been a pig-headed, stubborn vet, but he really cared deeply and unconditionally for them, and their feelings were mutual. Alice felt intense pangs of jealously. She had cut her ties with her family long before Charlotte was born and her insecurities, fed by past events, meant she was never in one place long enough to establish a loving relationship with anyone.

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The Cape Vulture was in a bad way. Alice had no choice but to operate. If she waited for Danny to get back, it would probably die.

He arrived just as Alice was sewing up the last stitches. Danny knew that he'd seriously underestimated this woman. She was more than a match for him. He watched as she took off her greens. She looked absolutely exhausted.

Charlotte was lying fast asleep in one of the holding pens and her mother headed towards her to pick her up and take her into the house.

"Alice, let me….." Danny pleaded as he intercepted her, "You must be worn out."

Alice watched as this gentle giant carefully picked up her sleeping daughter. She now knew what it was that she'd sensed the first time she'd seen him. He was a genuinely kind and honest person who cared about everyone and everything. She felt her heart uncharacteristically skip a beat as she thought about him.

"I'm sorry about this morning and yesterday," he apologised sincerely for his manner during the quarantine programme, "I've kind of got out of the habit of sharing decision making."

They walked together up to the Guest Lodge where Alice and Charlotte were staying. Alice took her sleeping daughter from Danny's strong arms.

"Goodnight!"

Danny lingered as she walked into the room. There was something very special about her. He knew instinctively that he couldn't let her leave when the rabies quarantine was over.

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They were preparing to begin the next round of vaccinations when a vehicle pulled up the drive. Jacob, one of the trackers had brought them the news that the State Vet had confirmed that the Yellow Mongoose nest was the source of the infection and that their actions had been sufficient to end the outbreak.

"They said to give Alice their congratulations."

"You told them I found the nest!" Alice exclaimed, looking at Danny in amazement.

Danny was full of surprises. Most other senior vets would have taken the credit for the discovery. Alice was deeply touched by his magnanimous behaviour. He really was very different from all the other men she knew.

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The end of the rabies epidemic meant that Alice and Charlotte would have to leave Leopard's Den and return to their lives in Jo'burg. Their bags were packed and Alice had begun loading her and Charlotte's things into the Land Rover. Alice felt strangely down. She never got attached to anyone or anywhere, but for some reason she didn't want to leave this place. Alice didn't want to leave Danny – she'd fallen in love with him.

Danny knew it was now or never. He didn't want Alice to go. He had to make her stay, whatever the cost. Danny had known from the first time that he'd set eyes on her that she was the 'One'.

"I meant to say, we have been looking for a new vet - you don't know of anyone who might be interested?" Danny asked casually, though his deep green eyes were pleading with her to stay.

"Not of the top of my head, no," Alice joked, trying to hide the absolute joy she was feeling at the fact he wanted her to stay.

"Four weeks, no commitments either side," he continued straight-faced.

"Two!" she teased, maintaining the playful banter.

"Three!" Danny stated emphatically, his face covered in a beaming grin.

Alice's face broke into a radiant smile as she held out her hand to seal the deal. As they shook hands, a shudder of electricity passed between them. This was just the start, the beginning of a long and happy relationship.

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End file.
